The Upper East Regional Health Directorate has achieved 100 per cent antenatal care coverage for pregnant women in the first half of 2026, but maternal mortality remains a major concern in the region.

According to the Directorate, 27 pregnant women died during childbirth between January and June 2026, compared to 60 maternal deaths recorded during the same period last year.

The Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service in the Upper East Region, Dr Braimah Baba Abubakari, attributed the deaths largely to delays in reporting to health facilities and late referrals from Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds to district and regional hospitals.

Dr Abubakari made the disclosure during a Joint Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health Strategic Planning Meeting held in Bolgatanga.

The meeting brought together health professionals from the Upper East, Northern, and North-East regions under the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) CHPS+ Project Phase II to deliberate on practical strategies to reduce maternal mortality and address other maternal and child health challenges in the three regions.

Dr. Braimah Baba Abubakari disclosed that the Bawku Municipality and Builsa South District each recorded four maternal deaths during the period, making them the hardest-hit areas in the region so far.

“A lot of the deaths occurred in April and May. They have now slowed down”, Dr Braimah said.

“When we did the analysis, we realised that for some of them, some intervention was made (to try and save their lives) but they still died. This is because they arrived at the facility late, either due to long distance and bad roads, or they waited too long until there were complications before they ran to the hospital," Dr Braimah revealed.

He called for stronger collaboration among health workers, caregivers, and community members to improve early reporting, timely referrals, and the quality of maternal healthcare delivery.

He emphasised that although the region had made progress in antenatal care coverage, more work must be done to ensure pregnant women have access to skilled care at the right time to prevent avoidable deaths.

Also speaking at the meeting, the Project Manager of KOICA, Myeongseon Kim, urged health professionals to be more proactive in dealing with maternal mortality and other health complications affecting women and children.

She said the KOICA CHPS+ Project Phase II aims to improve maternal and neonatal health in the Upper East and North East Regions and has been implementing several projects in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service and the Korean government through KOICA.

“But despite all this, we are struggling with maternal and neonatal deaths in the two regions, which is not the outcome we were expecting”, Kim said.

“We really want to know practical action points. We want to discuss key reasons that led to these maternal deaths so we can know how to solve the problem during and beyond the implementation of the project”, she added.

The meeting was expected to help shape coordinated interventions to improve maternal, neonatal, and child health outcomes across beneficiary regions.